A clash with formula one grand prix puts the brakes on Heart crowd

Any chance Melbourne Heart might have of capitalising on its barnstorming run by drawing a big crowd to its next home match has been stymied by Football Federation Australia scheduling that pits the club against one of the biggest sports events of the year - the formula one grand prix in Melbourne.

Heart has won its past five games on the spin and had a gate of close to 26,000 for its home derby against Melbourne Victory on Saturday night, which it won 4-0.

The derby clashes are, however, far and away Heart's biggest gate and with a crowd of more than 26,000 for its other home game against Victory just before Christmas, the club's average gate has been lifted to 11,000. But given its push for the finals and tremendous form it would have hoped to have built its following for the next home game against Wellington Phoenix on March 16.

Or it would if the FFA had moved the game. But it was reluctant to do so, and the match will kick off at 4pm that day - just an hour before Australia's F1 race starts.

''We saw that potential clash when the fixtures came out and asked them to move it, but they said it wasn't possible,'' a Heart spokesman said.

''It originally had a 5pm kick-off, which was the same time as the race started. We wanted them to at least make it a 3pm start, which would have given people the chance to go to Albert Park after the game, but they moved it forward only by an hour.''

It's a frustration for the club as it looks to continue its unlikely charge to the finals, especially as the FFA scheduled Adelaide United to play last Thursday night at Hindmarsh against Wellington Phoenix rather than clash with the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race that took place in the city at the weekend.

■ Heart will go into Saturday's game against Newcastle - an impressive 2-0 winner over Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday - at full strength, with defenders Patrick Gerhardt and Aziz Behich available after missing the easy win over Victory through suspension. Ben Garuccio was impressive as Behich's stand-in at left back, but it would be a surprise if Behich did not regain his position.